1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to a method for mounting a motor vehicle door lock to a motor vehicle door. The motor vehicle door lock comprises an inside locking lever that, in the mounting condition, is coupled to an inside safety element via a connecting rod. Also, this invention relates generally to a motor vehicle door and to a motor vehicle door lock.
2. Description of Related Art
Known motor vehicle doors comprise a door body providing a hollow space, in which the motor vehicle door lock is situated. Such an arrangement is shown in German Patent DE 25 22 301 C3. The motor vehicle door lock disclosed in this patent comprises an inside locking lever that, in the mounted condition, is coupled to an inside safety element via a connecting rod. The inside safety element may be actuated by a passenger who is sitting inside the motor vehicle in order to lock or unlock the door lock. The door body has a wall segment which bounds the hollow space from the passenger compartment and which has a passage opening through which in the mounted condition the connecting rod extends.
Mounting of the known motor vehicle door lock always leads to problems. If the motor vehicle door lock is to be mounted while the connecting rod is already coupled to the inside locking lever, it normally takes a considerable amount of skill and practice to find the respective passage opening in the wall segment of the door body due to the large extension of the connecting rod. If the connecting rod is to be coupled to the motor vehicle door lock after the lock has been mounted, finding the inside locking lever is generally even harder.
Another drawback of the known arrangement is the fact that, normally, the part of the connecting rod that, in the mounted condition, is located outside the hollow space is normally of considerable length. In many cases this leads to the necessity of a large mounting opening within the door body as the lock has to be moved over an accordingly large distance in mostly vertical direction.